red headed for trouble
by UnderThePureMoon
Summary: They meet in a lab, and somehow find themselves in between friendship, attraction, and falling for each other. — Kristoph/Dahlia.


**Uh... oops? Lol okay, so this was inspired by a few pieces floating around on livejournal (can't remember the titles of the pieces for the life of me), which were really good and have always been stuck in the back of my mind when I write this couple.**

**Let me know how good this is. It feels sorta unfinished to me, but I couldn't really find a way to finish it any better than I did.**

**I don't own anything, yo.**

* * *

There is a silence in night that makes it all the more comforting, or so the red headed woman thinks. It's probably a little too late for a philosophical inner monologue, though, and she's far too busy to do so anyway.

The pharmacology lab isn't too complicated, and for that, she is grateful. She has a little bit of gratitude towards her geeky boyfriend for telling her what each chemical is and does, and she has an immense amount of gratitude for the internet, which gave her the recipe for poison making. What a wonderful invention. She's not sure if she means the internet or poison, but either way, she's still glad.

She stumbles into the lab, and with a bit of looking, finds the chemicals she needs. It's so, so perfect, and the recipe is so simple! A small smile found its way onto her face. At least this was something she could have fun doing.

But then there's a rustle and she almost drops everything - which wouldn't be good, because glass would shatter and chemicals would be everywhere and it would be one, big mess she would _not _be looking forward to cleaning up.

Out of the dark entrance appears a boy who looks the same age as her - or, from what she can gather. He's blonde, with a pair of blue eyes hidden behind his glasses. His clothes and whole demeanor appear rather foreign and Dahlia suddenly doesn't know what to do.

The man quirks a brow, "What are you doing in here this late at night?"

Dahlia purses her lips and puts a hand on her hip, "I could ask you the same question."

He sighs and shakes his head, "Touche," he begins, "But could I at least have your name?"

Dahlia thinks for a minute - Melissa. That's her name. But Melissa Foster was revealed to be a fake at that trial and from the looks of it, this guy looked like he read the daily news pretty frequently.

"Dahlia."

It's once last thing she'll have to lie about, in the end.

"As beautiful as the flower itself."

Oh. _What_ a charmer. Dahlia rolls her eyes, clearly not falling for the act. "And you?" she asks, eyeing him up and down.

"Kristoph."

Hm. "Sounds foreign."

"Quite," he starts, pushing up his glasses, "I am German."

Dahlia nods, but she could really care less. His strides are slow, and then he's suddenly behind her, staring at what she's doing. The corner of his lip twirks up, and he's full on smirking.

"Poison?"

Dahlia nods, speaking in her sharpest sarcastic tone. "Clearly you are a man of high intellect. I suppose I shouldn't lie to you, then. So, yes, it is poison."

There is no response from the man, save for a grin. Dahlia doesn't know what he needs to smile about, so she raises a brow in curiosity.

"And just what are you smiling about?"

No lies today. No sweet falsetto tones and happy, sacharine smiles. This is something she is serious about, and if she was being honest, she doesn't feel too much like lying today. She was kind of off her game today, anyway.

"Oh, nothing. Just that you're finally showing your true colors, Ms. Hawthorne."

Dahlia wants to laugh at that one. "Huh. So you do know me, after all. I'm not really surprised, Gavin."

And she's not, really. She's known around campus by boys, specifically, because she's a beautiful girl, with her porcelain skin and strangely colored hair. Dahlia is hoping that she's making this conversation as one-sided as possible, though, because she hates to be interested in things like this - boys that she might _actually_ like, conversations like this, etcetera...

"And you know me? I must admit that I'm not particularly as famous as you are, so do forgive my curiosity. I know it must interfere with your task at hand."

Dahlia snorts, "Oh, believe me, I've done this far too many times to lose focus. But yes, I do know of you. My, ah... _boyfriend _talks about you occasionally."

"Boyfriend? Do you mean that boy in the pink sweater?"

Dahlia nods, "Yes, that's the one."

"He seems..."

"Annoying? Dreadful? Whiny?"

Kristoph holds back a chuckle, "All good words."

That makes Dahlia laugh. "He seems just as distasteful as he is, believe me."

There's a silence, then, because neither of them like Dahlia's "boyfriend" very much, save for her sister, who is overly fond of him and _not _doing her job correctly. Dahlia keeps mixing and stirring and finally, she smiles.

"Finished."

Kristoph looks up from the portion of the pristine wall he was staring at, "Who's the poison for, if you don't mind me asking?"

Dahlia stares at him, her rid lips pulling upwards into a smile, "Can you keep a secret?"

He nods.

"My dear boyfriend. I'm afraid my sister hasn't been serving her use, so I've been forced to end it all."

There is no response again, but Dahlia turns to him, smiling in some weirdly genuine way. "But thank you for keeping me company."

Before he can reply, her eyes light up in some kind of idea, and a more devious smirk finds it's way onto her lips. "Hey! I know. Why don't you keep some? I'm sure a man of your intelligence could find some use in it."

He shrugs offhandedly, and she puts some in a small bottle. The liquid swishes around in the glass container, and he stares at it before taking it and getting a better look at it.

"Atroquinine?" he asks, and she nods.

"It's lethal. So I do hope you use it on something worthwhile."

Another pregnant silence follows and he stares at her, blue eyes blinking back and forth before she breaks the silence with a kiss. It's awkward, because he wasn't expecting it, and neither was she, but they somehow ended up back in his own room.

Morning came slowly. The light was dull and the mysterious woman's sleeping frame was touched by said light, and it was only then that the blonde law student realized that she was, indeed, a very beautiful woman. Even though he had been inwardly admiring her, he had somehow fallen back asleep.

Except, when he woke up this time, Dahlia was also awake and getting dressed.

"It's raining," he stated. He wasn't entirely sure if he was just stating the obvious or trying to get her to stay, or maybe even a mixture of both.

She looked to him with a smile, "Oh, I know," she began, grabbing some parasol and waggling it in front of him. He felt himself frown, maybe making his previous thought of wanting her to stay true.

She chuckled, "Don't worry. I'll be back later. I'd much rather spend time with you than my 'boyfriend.'"

And with that, she exited the door, taking almost everything about her with her. The only thing left of her was some of her sweet fragrance on his skin, and the small container of atroquinine on his dresser.

* * *

She does end up coming back later.

It's then that they realize that they're somewhere in between friendship, attraction and weirdly falling for each other.


End file.
